Rail joint



R. E. FRICKEY RAIL JOINT Aug. 16, 1932.

FEE- FIE Z INVENTOR Filed July 24, 1931 Pam; A. fie/om? BY Q 10 AT iNEl S.

FIE E Patented Aug. 16, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROYAL E. FRICKEY OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB TO WELDING SERVICE INC 01 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A. CORPORATION 01 CALIFORNIA BAIL JOINT I Application filed July 24,

5 thru usage.

It is a general object of the invention to devise simple and effective means whereby a worn railroad joint of conventional construction can be reconditioned or serviced to reestablish proper bearing between the up- 29 invention is characterized by the fact that by its application, a worn railroad joint can be reconditioned without the necessity of removing the joint bars, without forging or swaging operations, and with mechanical elements which are relatively simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It is to be understood that the appended claims are to be accorded a range of equivalents consistent with the state of the prior art.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view illus trating a conventional form of rail joint, and showing an area of wear for which this invention is applicable to correct.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scale illustrating a shim section which is utilized in my invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional detail taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail illustrating one manner in which the edge of the shim section plate can be formed to aiford an ade- 1931. Serial No. 552,940.

quate interlock with a softer metal edge portion.

Fig. 6 is a plan view on an enlar ed scale similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a mo ification of the shim section.

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional detail taken along line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating a joint incorporating the present invention, and which has been reconditioned to correct for wear.

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional detail taken along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged cross sectional detail taken along the line 1010 of Fig. 6.

In the construction of railroad tracks it has been common practice to connect together adj acent ends of rail sections by a pair of joint bars. These joint bars or plates are clamped upon opposite sides of the rail by means of bolts passing thru the rail web, and are provided with upper longitudinal shoulders or faces which afford a bearing for the lower shoulders formed upon rail balls. As long as the joint is tight, and the shoulders of the rail ball have proper bearing upon the longitudinal shoulders of the joint bars or plates, there is little up and down movement between the adjacent ends of the rail sections, and consequently little battering upon the rail ends. Joints of this character afford little jar to rolling stock, and the upper edges of the ends of the rail sections will not be unduly battered. However in time a battering and permanent mutilation occurs in areas extending outwardly from the center of the joint, along the re ion of the cooperating shoulders between t e joint plates and the rail ball, and these battered areas afl'ord increased clearance between the shoulders to permit a greater amount of up and down movement of the rail ends. Obviously such wear results in a greater amount of jar to rolling stock, and'in an increased amount of batterlng upon the upper edges of the adjacent rail ends. Thus further wear and mutilation occurs at an increased rate, so that the useful tional rail joint has been shownp In this case joint bars 10, which are angle members in cross section, are clamped to opposite sides of the adjacent rail sections, by joint bolts 12. The upper longitudinal face or shoulder 13 of each oint bar 10, is intended to normally contact and have bearing with the lower shoulders 14 of the rail ball portion 16. When the joint is new this hearing extends for the full length of both of the joint plates. However when the joint becomes worn, be cause of continual pounding and batterin permanently deformed or mutilated areas 1 are formed, and for the regions of these muti-' lated areas, the lower ball shoulders 14 do not properly directly bear upon shoulders 13. In other words a clearance is formed, and this clearance permits an increased amount of relative up and down movement between the ends of the rail sections, and the ends of the rail sections are not properly supported.

The nature and extent of the battered areas will of course vary according to different joints, and according to. operating conditions to which they are subjected. Where the wear is not great the maximum clearance afl'orded between the lower shoulders of the rail ball and the upper longitudinal shoulders of the joint bars may not be in excess of a few thousandths, While in other cases the maximum clearance may be as great as g, of an inch or more. Furthermore the extent of these areas may vary from a few inches in length to as much as 5 or 10 inches. In most instances the permanent wear and deformation is not confined to the metal of the joint plates, but a certain amount also takes place in the metal of the rail ball.

To provide a successful solution for the problem of reconditioning such worn joints, it is evident that variations in the character and extent of the battered areas must be taken into account. In other words the method of applying certain corrective measures to recondition the joints must be sufliciently flexible and adaptable to take into account such variations. Structures and methods utilized in the past to recondition such worn joints have not been suificiently flexible and adapted to enable their universal application.- For example in the past such worn joints have been reconditioned by removing the joint plates, and applying weld metal to the upper shoulders of the plates along the battered areas. Aside from the expenses involved in methods of this character, it is obviously diflicult to so apply the weld metal that proper bearing can be reestablished, even though subsequent grinding is employed. It has also long'been practice to reform the joint plates to their original shape by forgmg operations, after they are removed from the joint. Such methods are likewise expenslve because of the necessity of removing the joint plates and because of the heat treatment involved, and likewise do not insure reestablishment of proper bearing because the do not take into account the wear on the un ersides of the rail balls. Another meth- 1 plication it is necessary to remove the joint bars, thus increasing the cost of the reconditioned joint.

The present invention is characterized by the use of a plurality of shim sections, which can be furnished in different thicknesses, and whi ch are fitted between the lower shoulders of the rail ball and the upper longitudinal shoulders of the joint bars, along the battered areas. A shim section which has been found satisfactory is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. It consists of a blade portion 21 formed of relatively hard metal,-to which is fixed an edging 22 of relatively softer metal. To facilitate driving the blade in proper position, the edge portion 23 can be tapered to form substantially a knife edge. It is obvious that many materials can be satisfactorily utilized for forming the blade 21 of the shim section. I-Iigh carbon steel has been employed with good results, although under certain conditions of service it is subject to corrosion. To avoid such corrosion, special corrosion resisting steels can be employed, as for exam le steels or other alloys containing substantial percentages of chromium. Likewise while edge portion 22 can be formed of ordinary relatively low carbon steel, corrosion can be minimized or avoided by the use of special metals or alloys.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, portion 22 is formed of a single strip of metal bent U-shaped and compressed .upon

the edge portion of blade 21. To afford a better grip between these parts the edge of blade 21 embraced by the softer metal portion 22, can be permanently distorted as indicated at 24 in Fig. 5.

A modified shim section is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. In this case edge portion 26 likewise consists of a metal relatively softer than the material of blade 21, andbent U- shaped and compressed upon the edge of the blade. An integral flange 27 projects laterally from portion 26, and serves to'facilitate making attachment between the shim section and the other parts ofthe joint, as will presently be explained. As shown in Fig. 10,

one face of the shim can be knurled or roughened for the same purpose.

The manner of utilizing the shim sectlons described above, has been shown in Fi 9.

Assuming a joint has been Worn to afiord mutilated areas such as described above, the clearance at a particular point between shoulders 13 and 14 is determined by well known methods, and a shim of :proper thickness to be fitted between shoulders at this point is selected. This shim is then driven between the shoulders 13 and 14 at this point, to the final position shown in Fig. 9. It is a comparatively simple operation to drive a shim section in place by hammer blows upon ortion 22. While it is obvious that the s im sections may vary in width, it is desirable that they be so proportioned that at least two or more sections must be fitted in place upon each side of the rail, to properly recondition the joints. A width of about 1%" has given good results.

The appearance of a worn joint rec-onditioned by my invention can be best understood by reference to Fig. 8. In this case the battered areas are not symmetrical with the center of the joint. Therefore three shim sections a, band 0 are shown fitted-between the one rail section and one of the adjacent joint bars, while two shim sections at and e are shown fitted between the same joint bar and the other rail section. Assuming that clearance between shoulders 13 and 14 is first gauged at a point approximately where shim section a is fitted, this shim section is selected of such a thickness that it will have a tight fit when driven in place between the shoulders. Shim section b is then selected of such thickness as to afford a tight fit when driven in adjacent shim a, and shim 0 likewise selected and driven in place. The driving in of these shim sections takes out all slack between the rail bar and rail section. The blade of shim section b will ordinarily be of lesser thickness than the blade of section a, and-the blade of section a will be of lesser thickness than the blade of section 6. Therefore assuming that the sections are properly selected, each shim section will reestablish a bearing between shoulders 13 and 14 for its particular locality, and accordingly a joint so reconditioned will have reestablished bearing between shoulders 13 and 14 for substantially the entire extent of the mutilated areas.

If the shim sections were not properly secured in position, they might work loose in time due to relative movementsbetween the parts of the.joint. As securing means I prefer to utilize weld connections 28 such as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. One or more weld connections can be made for each shim section, and the weld connection can be made between the shim and the adjacent rail section,.or between the shim and the adjacent portion of one of the joint bars. However it is essential not to connect the shim section to both a rail section and a joint .bar, as breakage would result thru slight relative movements between the joint bars and the rail sections. In Fig. 8 each weld connection is between the softer metal portion 26 of the shim section, and the adjacent portion of therail ball. The softer character of the metal of which portions 26 are made, facilitates making welded connections thereto, and also prevents the heatof the welding operation from injuring the hard metal blades of'the sections. As shown in Fig. 8, the weld connections can be so distributed that one weld connection serves to connect two shim sections to the adjacent portion of the rail ball. \Vhen using the modified form of shim section illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, the weld connection -is made to the relatively soft flange 27, and this flange affords resiliency or give between the weld connection and the shim. Any raised edges 30 or roughening of the shim blade is on that side of the blade which contacts with that part of the joint to which the weld connection is made. For ex" ample in Fig. 9 such edges or roughening would be upon the upper faces of the blades, whereby any relative longitudinal movement between the rail sections and the joint bars causes slippage between the shim sections and the rail sections.

It is evident that my invention possesses certain utility and that by its application worn joints can be reconditioned with a minimum of cost. A reconditioned joint incorporating my invention has substantially all of the attributes of a new joint in that proper bearing is again established for substantially the length of the joint bars. Application of the shim sections does not require removal of the joint bars, and the joint bars themselves need not be altered or modified in any manner. Adaptability of the invention to worn joints having battered areas of different characteristics and extents will be apparent, in that the number and thicknesses of the shim sections employed can be varied. If after a joint has been reconditioned, it again becomes worn and requires further reconditioning, it is a simple matter to disrupt the weld connections 28 and remove the shim sections which have been previously fitted into the joint. New shim sections are then selected and properly fitted in place.

It is obvious that the invention is capable of many modifications within the spirit of the invention, some of which may be pointed out in particular. Instead of merely providing a knife edge upon the shim blades, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, it is possible edge portion of relatively softer metal ex tending contiguous to one side of the rail ball, and a weld connection between said edge portion and one only of said rail section and ]oint plate.

In testimony whereofpI have hereunto set my hand.

extending outwardly from the center of the joint and along the region of said shoulders, whereby the ball shoulders adjacent the ends of the rail sections do not properly directly bear upon the shoulders of the bars a plurality of hard metal shim sections interposed between. said shoulders at each side of the rail, said shim sections being adapted to reestablish substantially normal hearing between said shoulders.

2. In combination with a rail joint having side bars connecting adjacent ends of rail sections whereby the upper longitudinal shoulders of the bars normally afiord a bearing for the lower shoulders of the rail ball, said joint being worn to afford battered areasextending outwardly from the center of the joint and along the region of said shoulders, whereby the ball shoulders adjacent the ends of the rail sections do not properly directly bear upon the shoulders of the bars; a plurality of hard metal shim sections of varying thicknesses interposed between said shoulders at each side of the rail, said shim sections being adapted to reestablish substantially normal bearing between said shoulders.

3. In combination with a rail joint having side joint bars connecting adjacent ends of rail sections whereby the upper longitudinal shoulders of the bars normally aflord a bearing for the lower shoulders of the rail ball, said joints being worn to afford battered areas extending outwardly from the center of the joint and along the region of said shoulders, towards the end of the bars, whereby the ball shoulders adjacent the ends of the rail sections do not properly directly bear upon the shoulders of the bars; a plurality of hard metal shim sections interposed between said shoulders at each side of the rail and adapted to reestablish substantially normal bearing between said shoulders, and means forming a connection between each of said shim sections and one only of said rail sections and joint bars.

4. In combination with a rail joint having a joint bar secured to an end portion of a rail section, whereby the upper longitudinal shoulders of the joint bar underlies one of the lower shoulders of the rail ball, a shim section including a hard metal blade portion fitted between said shoulders and having an ROYAL E. FRICEL 

